If you have seen Raina Noriega's colorful and vibrant artwork grace the covers of Science Magazine or the New Yorker or amplify brands like Apple and Old Navy, it might be hard to

believe that she almost forewent a career in the arts completely. We talk about what pulled her

back, the year of responsibility that gave way to the year of rebirth, and her powerful

message about ignoring the rush and the trends in the service of building something meant to last.

Raina, I am such a fan. Thank you so much for doing this. Thank you so much for having me, Alicia.

All right. So you and I both have Cuban dads. Your mom is Bahamian. You grew up in Miami. How does the Caribbean then show up in your home? It's everywhere to the point where I'm spoiled and I didn't realize that not

everyone lives like this, you know, from the meals to just the presence of just joy and music

and how all of that is kind of like ingrained in how we interact, how we celebrate. It was such

a vibrant upbringing. As an Afro-Caribbean Latina, I don't need to ask if you saw representations of yourself in the media

because you and I grew up consuming the same media.

We know how few and far between that was.

And I think the damage that does is hard to quantify.

What happens to a kid when you don't see yourself reflected back at you? Yeah, I sometimes

mention like this cognitive dissonance that existed within me that I thought that my blackness

came from my Bahrainian mother when my Ovalo is Afro-Cuban from Havana. So, like, I'm seeing it.

I'm seeing Celia Cruz and I'm seeing my family and it's not clicking.

Well, did you talk about race in your house?

Not, I mean, I think there were definitely conversations,

but not really with identity.

I know that my Owella was very proud of her husband and that she had

chosen to marry a black Cuban, probably against what was the norm at that time and what was

accepted. And so that was vocalized, but they always joke with me.

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